Chapter 4
Wolfe
Axel was waiting at the fence line when I left the house.
His grin was wide, and I couldn’t stop my own from spreading across my face as I thought about Rowen drunk on our bed, out cold.
“All okay?” he asked as we started to walk back to the pack hall.
“Asleep,” I told him. “Thanks for your help.” I took a deep breath. “Anything said that I need to know?”
He shook his head. “No.” He gave a half shrug. “It was kind of sad, to be honest. The widow stood and drank, and Rowen sat and drank. They hardly spoke.” He nudged me gently. “But they did drink.”
I nodded in agreement. “They definitely did.” I pushed my hair back off my face. “Never seen her drunk, truth be told.” I recalled what she said Adair had said to her, and what Rowen had asked me. “I think I like her drunk,” I admitted and saw Axel laugh.
“Well, I don’t,” he said with a light frown. “She said I look like Cody.”
I didn’t say anything to fuel the fire. I could see how Rowen might’ve mixed them up—both broad-shouldered, both with cropped hair—but Axel was pale with dirty blond strands, while Cody’s skin was warmer, sun-bronzed, and his buzz cut was even tighter than Killian’s.
Killian met us halfway along the trail to the pack hall. “Where is she?”
“Sleeping.”
“She passed out?” he asked in surprise. “Or did you gag her? I expected to hear her shouting from here.”
I used my Will. I saw the look they exchanged, and braced myself for the lecture.
An alpha’s Will was a necessary evil sometimes.
It was so that a pack would obey a command if it were for the benefit of the pack.
I knew some alphas used it for more deviant uses, despicable uses, and I had sworn to Lars that I would never be that alpha.
I would never be the alpha who used their Will because it was easier to control a pack.
I wanted my pack to follow me for me, not because I made it.
I wasn’t sure the Goddess would approve of me using my Will to help my drunk mate sleep it off.
Killian whistled low as he looked me over. “She is going to skin you alive.”
“Must be a Wednesday,” I muttered. “What’s wrong?” I didn’t say now, we all heard it.
“Southern border patrol clashed this morning with the west ridge border patrol.”
I heard what he wasn’t saying. Blueridge Hollow and Stonefang Pack had a brawl while on duty.
“They all in the pack hall?” I asked him as we resumed walking.
“Yeah, Brand’s separated them into two and told them to sit down and shut up until you come.”
I winced. “Did he say it a little more diplomatically?”
“That was me saying it diplomatically to you. Brand didn’t have the same…finesse.”
“Any lost?” Axel asked, running his hand over his hair.
“No, a few scrapes and scratches, nothing a half shift won’t heal.” Killian glanced at me. “Brand also told them they weren’t allowed to shift until you saw them for yourself.”
“A few scrapes,” Axel complained. “Ugh. They can’t even fight amongst themselves with any fucking effort.”
“Wolfe.”
All three of us turned to look at the druid. That pure shock of white hair that arced back from his face shone almost yellow in the afternoon sun.
“Druid.” I felt Killian and Axel tense beside me. “I’m on my way to the pack hall. Can it wait?”
“Can the wind wait for the rain?”
What the fuck does that even mean? Killian grumbled.
“I don’t know,” I answered them both. “But I’m assuming the answer to my question is no?”
“In time, you’ll be a wise alpha.” The druid turned, and I exchanged a look with the other two.
“Go ahead. Save Brand from being any more diplomatic,” I told Killian, and with a sigh, I followed the druid, bracing myself for the lecture they had no doubt prepared already.
I ducked into their tent, chafing at the delay in seeing to my pack, but I knew how much weight Blueridge Hollow placed upon their druid, and I’d already bucked enough traditions by bringing my Stonefang Pack here; I didn’t need to piss off their druid.
They were already seated. I sank down onto the cushion without being asked. I needed this to be fast; I had a lot of shit to do today.
“What?”
The druid looked up from their wooden bowl, and I saw the flicker of annoyance at my impertinence before they schooled their face into their usual impassive, smooth mask.
“You rush forward so readily, you can be blind to what you can’t see.”
That made even less sense than the rain comment. “If I can’t see it, does it matter if I am blind or not?”
The druid set down their bowl and sighed. If I were a more reckless man, I’d tell them they were being dramatic.
“Wolfe, I am trying to work with you here.”
“When?” Huh, looked like I was living recklessly today after all.
The druid sat straighter, fixing me with a cold stare, and I braced myself once more for the lecture. “You’re making it harder than it has to be.”
The druid’s voice was calm—too calm. Like he thought if he kept it steady, I wouldn’t snap. Or maybe he wanted me to.
I tried not to react, but my arms were crossed and my jaw was tight, and I watched them with a steady gaze. I knew I looked defensive before I even opened my mouth.
“Two packs with generations of mistrust,” I said. “You think I’m the only problem?”
“No,” they said. “I think you’re the chaos in the middle of the problem. And I think you’re too proud to admit you can’t control the wind.”
I exhaled through my nose. “I’m doing what needs to be done.”
“You’re clinging to power like it’s the same as control,” they said. “It’s not.” They sniffed delicately. “And the more you try to ignore this bond, the more you push her away.”
I looked away from them when they mentioned Rowen. “I haven’t ignored her or pushed her to do anything.”
“No,” they said, resuming working with the bowl. “But you haven’t exactly sat down and discussed it with her, either.”
The silence that followed felt like a held breath. Mine, maybe. “I didn’t choose her to be my mate,” I said. “Neither of us asked for this.”
“And yet here it is,” they replied, leaning closer, voice low and level. “You stand here every day with the mark of the Goddess burning on your skin and pretend like it’s some inconvenience.”
I clenched my jaw.
They didn’t stop.
“Rowen is your mate. She is as close to your equal as you will get. But you treat the bond like it’s something you earned and she should be grateful for it.”
That irritated me because it was too damn close to something I didn’t want to admit. “That is bullshit,” I muttered. “I’m giving her space. As I said, neither of us asked to be mated.”
“You married her.”
“I married her for politics.” I glared at them. “A mate bond changed everything.” I unfolded my arms and leaned back, my palms resting on the canvas floor beneath me. “She’s not the one struggling to lead two fractured packs,” I added. “If anything, she’s the one trying to alienate half of both.”
“At least she is trying.”
I bristled. “You think I’m not trying?”
“I think you’re trying to win, Wolfe. And this isn’t a war.
” They raised their hand to stop my outburst before it even began.
“The war you face is out there, beyond the territory. The test within your packs is exactly that. A test. One you’re failing every time you try to dominate instead of understand. ”
I didn’t answer. What was there to say?
The druid sighed. “I’m trying to help you. The Goddess, the Hollow, even the shifters who follow you without question. But you make it harder every time you ‘give her space.’”
I felt the bond stir—like Rowen had sensed the shift in me. Or maybe I was just thinking about her too damn loud.
“You don’t have to love her the way the poets sing about,” the druid said, voice softer now. “But you do have to complete the mate bond. Or you’ll both burn.”
“And how do you suggest I do that when my mate is unwilling?” I looked them over coldly. “I don’t condone rape, and without her consent, that’s what it would be.”
I genuinely think the druid had to stop themselves from rolling their eyes; it was the most human I’d ever seen them.
“Is she really unwilling?” they asked with what was possibly the driest tone they’d ever spoken to me with.
They set their bowl down, reaching into a pouch to sprinkle a mustard-looking powder.
“I’ve seen the looks between you.” Their mouth twisted with distaste.
“I’ve smelled your scent on her many times.
” A pinch of the dried mixture was tossed into the air between us; it crackled and then, with a small burst of flame, vanished.
“Maybe you both need to stop overthinking it and—”
“What? Just fuck her and get it over with?” My snarl was barely restrained.
The druid looked at me with a none-too-impressed expression. “Be crude or not, the bond needs to be cemented. It is the Will of the Goddess, and she is growing impatient.”
“Do you have any druidly advice regarding the actual issue of the attacks we’re facing?”
They filled a velvet pouch with the newly ground mixture. “Your walls aren’t as secure as you think.”
I nodded. “So I was right? There’s a traitor amongst us.” They gave a simple nod. “Is it Rowen?”
They looked at me with surprise, and then the pouch they’d had in their hand, which I thought had been for me, though Goddess knew what I was supposed to do with powder that burned in the air, was tucked into their robes. The druid considered me for a long moment.
“You have come so far, Alpha, but I see now that you still have a longer journey ahead of you.” They stood, and I looked up at them before rising to my feet.
“Will I ever come in here and get a straight answer?”
The druid smiled. “Ask the right questions and you may be surprised.”
I grunted as I turned to leave. “Be careful of that pouch, or I won’t be the only one the Goddess burns.” I think I heard a chuckle as I left, but I didn’t turn back, and they didn’t stop me.